Undergraduate Courses
2023–24 CALENDAR
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The following DTS program requirements apply only to those students who enrolled in the program in or after September 2014. Students who enrolled before that date should fulfill the requirements listed in the A&S Calendar of the year in which they enrolled.
DIASPORA & TRANSNATIONAL STUDIES MAJOR
Completion Requirements:
(7.0 credits, including at least 2.0 at the 300+ level)
- DTS200Y1 ( Introduction to Diaspora and Transnational Studies)
- DTS300H1 (Qualitative and Quantitative Reasoning)
- 4.5 full-course equivalents (FCEs) from Group A and B courses, with at least two FCEs from each group. Coverage must include at least two diasporic communities or regions, to be identified in consultation with the program advisor.
- 1.0 DTS credit at the 400-level
DIASPORA & TRANSNATIONAL STUDIES MINOR
Completion Requirements:
(4.0 credits, including at least 1.0 credit at the 300+ level)
- DTS200Y1 (Introduction to Diaspora and Transnational Studies)
- DTS300H1 (Qualitative and Quantitative Reasoning)
- 2.0 credits from Group A and B courses, with at least 1.0 credit from each group.
- 0.5 DTS credit at the 400-level
Group A and B Courses:
Group A: Humanities Courses
Course Code | Course Title | Course Code | Course Title |
---|---|---|---|
AFR250Y1 | Africa in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities | HIS361H1 | The Holocaust, from 1942 |
AFR351Y1 | African Systems of Thought | HIS403H1 | Jews and Christians in Medieval and Renaissance Europe |
CAR328H1 | Caribbean Indentureship and its Legacies | HIS446H1 | Gender and Slavery in the Atlantic World |
CJS200H1 | Introduction to Jewish Thought | HIS467H1 | French Colonial Indochina: History, Cultures, Texts, Film |
CJS201H1 | Introduction to Jewish Culture | JGU216H1 | Globalization and Urban Change |
CSE341H1 | Theorizing Settler Colonialism, Capitalism and Race | JHA384H1 | Japan in the World, Mid-16th to Mid-20th Century |
CSE449H1 | Contemporary Theories in Critical Disability Studies | JQR360H | The Canadian Census: Populations, Migrations and Demographics |
EAS105H1 | Modern East Asia | NMC252H1 | Hebrew Bible |
EAS247H1 | History of Capitalism in Modern Japan | RLG319H1 | Death, Dying and Afterlife |
EAS251H1 | Aesthetics and Politics in 20th Century Korea | RLG341H1 | Dreaming of Zion: Exile and Return in Jewish Thought |
EAS271H1 | 20th Century Korean History | RLG346H1 | Time and Place in Judaism |
EAS420H1 | Travels, Travelers and Travel Accounts in Asia | SAS114H1 | Introduction to South Asian Studies |
ENG270H1 | Introduction to Colonial and Postcolonial Writing | SAS318H1 | Colonialism and Tradition |
ENG285H1 | The English Language in the World | SLA302H1 | The Imaginary Jew |
SLA318H1 | City of Saints and Sinners: Kyiv through the Centuries | ||
ENG367H1 | African Literatures in English | SLA357H1 | Literature of Exile and Immigration |
FRE332H1 | Francophone Literatures | SLA380H1 | Language, Politics, Identity |
GER361H1 | Yiddish Literature in Translation (E) | SPA258H1 | Introduction to Hispanic Literary Studies |
HIS208Y1 | History of the Jewish People | SPA259H1 | Introduction to Hispanic Cultural Studies |
HIS291H1 | Latin America: The Colonial Period | UNI101H1 | Citizenship in the Canadian City |
HIS295Y1 | History of Africa | UNI103H1 | Gradients of Health in an Urban Mosaic |
HIS312H1 | Immigration to Canada | WGS369H1 | Studies in Post-Colonialism |
HIS338H1 | The Holocaust, to 1942 | WGS426H1 | Gender and Globalization: Transnational Perspectives |
HIS359H1 | Regional Politics and Radical Movements in the 20th Century Caribbean |
Group B: Social Sciences Courses
Course Code | Course Title | Course Code | Course Title |
---|---|---|---|
ANT324H1 | Tourism & Globalization | JPR364H1 | Religion and Politics in the Nation State |
ANT345H1 | Global Health: Anthropological Perspectives | JPR374H1 | Religion and Power in the Postcolony |
ANT347H1 | Metropolis: Global Cities | LCT304H1 | Praxis and Performance |
ANT356H1 | Anthropology of Religion | POL201H1 | Politics of Development |
ANT364H1 | Environment & Globalization | POL224H1 | Canada in Comparative Perspective |
ANT366H1 | Anthropology of Activism and Social Justice | POL301H1 | Colonial Legacies and Post-Independence African Politics |
ANT370H1 | Introduction to Social Anthropological Theory | POL305H1 | Introduction to Latin American Politics and Societies |
ANT426H1 | Western Views of the Non-West | POL324H1 | European Union: Politics, Institutions and Society |
ANT456H1 | Queer Ethnography | POL417H1 | Politics of North-South Relations |
ANT460H1 | Global Perspectives on Women's Health | POL442H1 | Topics in Latin American Politics |
ANT475H1 | Reading Ethnography | SOC210H1 | Ethnicity in Social Organization |
CSE342H1 | Theory and Praxis in Food Security | SOC214H1 | Sociology of the Family |
ENT391H1 | Exploring New Ventures | SOC220H1 | Social Stratification |
ENT392Y1 | Exploring New Ventures | SOC256H1 | Lives and Societies |
GGR320H1 | Geographies of Transnationalism, Migration and Gender | SOC315H1 | Domestic Violence |
GGR326H1 | Remaking the Global Economy | SOC360H1 | Social Movements |
GGR336H1 | Urban Historical Geography of North America | SOC367H1 | Race, Class, and Gender |
GGR341H1 | The Changing Geography of Latin America | SOC370H1 | Immigration and Employment |
GGR360H1 | Culture, History, and Landscape | SOC388H1 | Sociology of Everyday Life |
GGR363H1 | Critical Geographies: An Introduction to Radical Ideas on Space, Society and Culture | SOC481H1 | Culture and Social Networks |
GGR430H1 | Geographies of Markets | UNI101H1 | Citizenship in the Canadian City |
JAL355H1 | Language and Gender | UNI103H1 | Gradients of Health in an Urban Mosaic |
JGE321H1 | Multicultural Perspectives on Environmental Management | VIC183H1 | Individuals and the Public Sphere: Shaping Memory |
JGU216H1 | Globalization and Urban Change | VIC184H1 | Individuals and the Public Sphere: History, Historiography, and Making Cultural Memory |
JGU346H1 | The Urban Planning Process |
DTS COURSE DESCRIPTIONS OFFERED IN 2023–24
DTS199H1 - Superman and Other Migrants
Fall 2023, Tuesdays 10:00am - 12:00pm
Description TBA
Instructors: N. Seidman
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science course
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
DTS200Y1 - Introduction to Diaspora and Transnational Studies I
Full Year 2023–24, Tuesdays 12:00pm - 2:00pm
What is the relationship between place and belonging, between territory and memory? How have the experiences of migration and dislocation challenged the modern assumption that the nation-state should be the limit of identification? What effect has the emergence of new media of communication had upon the coherence of cultural and political boundaries? All of these questions and many more form part of the subject matter of Diaspora and Transnational Studies. This introductory course ex-amines the historical and contemporary movements of peoples and the complex issues of identity and experience to which these processes give rise as well as the creative possibilities that flow from movement and being moved. The area of study is comparative and interdisciplinary, drawing from the social sciences, history, the arts and humanities. Accordingly, this course provides the background to the subject area from diverse perspectives and introduces students to a range of key debates in the field, with particular attention to questions of history, globalization, cultural production and the creative imagination.
Instructors: S. Kassamali, A. Pesarini
Exclusion: DTS201H1, DTS202H1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science course
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1) + Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS300H1 - Qualitative and Quantitative Reasoning
Winter 2024, Tuesdays 10:00am – 12:00pm
Focuses on research design and training in methods from history, geography, anthropology, literary and cultural studies, and other disciplines appropriate to Diaspora and Transnational Studies. Prepares students to undertake primary research required in senior seminars.
Instructor: P. Scanlan
Prerequisite: Completion of 9.0 credits
Recommended Preparation: DTS200Y1/CJS200H1/CJS201H1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: The Physical and Mathematical Universes (5)
DTS305H1 - Topics in Diaspora and Transnationalism: NAFTA: Anthropology of Free Trade
Winter 2024, Thursdays 10:00am – 12:00pm
Do you ever wonder where your yearlong supply of avocados comes from? Do you know how Canadian mining companies benefit from Mexico’s so-called drug war? Did you know that an auto-part crosses the Mexico-US border, back-and-forth, about seven times before being assembled into a car? This course grapples with these and similar questions by taking a critical look at free trade. Specifically, we focus on NAFTA/CUSMA, the Canada-Mexico-United States free trade agreement. We approach free trade as a transnational legal and socio-economic structure that engenders contradictions, contestations, and appropriations while simultaneously reproducing the conditions for predatory accumulation. The North American geo-economic region enables the easy and speedy flow of commodities and capital and simultaneously constrains people’s movement through militarized borders and through strictly regulated labour migration. Through a critical look at the ongoing (re)making of “North America,” we examine free trade as an instrument of neoliberal capitalism and imperialism, and as a technology shrinking time-space and of acceleration. Among the topics to be examined are labour, migration, the narcoeconomy, mining, export agriculture, corporations, the environment, and transnational solidarities. The course will provide students with conceptual tools to think critically about free trade in any locale and, more broadly, about current configurations of capitalism.
Instructor: A. Gonzalez Jimenez
Prerequisite: Completion of 9.0 credits
Recommended Preparation: DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS310H1 - Transnational Toronto
Fall 2023, Mondays 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Toronto is a city increasingly configured through transnational connections and practices. It is a city defined by the scale at which its residents live their lives; a scale that is no longer (if it ever was) parochial, but extends across time and space to connect people and practice across a multitude of locales. Contemporary understandings of Toronto can only be reached through adopting a transnational lens. This course will examine the processes that have produced Toronto as a transnational city over time, including the dynamics of immigration and mobility, experiences of alienation, the global extension of capitalism, and the (re)formation of communities grounded in the complex dynamics of identities produced in a space that is both ‘home’ and away’. We will also explore the specific practices, and connections that produce “Toronto” as a space that transcends its physical geographic boundaries and is continually reproduced in and through the flows of people, capital, objects, ideas, - and the many forces that reproduce and reconfigure these flows.
Instructor: K. MacDonald
Prerequisite: Completion of 9.0 Credits
Distribution Requirement: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS314H1 - Citizenship and Multiculturalism
Fall 2023, Wednesdays 2:00pm – 4:00pm
This course examines approaches to belonging and distinction that accompany different models of citizenship. What are some historical and recent trends in the intersections of place, custom, and rights? How have governments related social diversity to social justice in theory and in practice? Areas of emphasis will vary, but may include topics such as authenticity and assimilation; ethno-nationalism; immigration and naturalization policy; indigeneity; insurgency; legacies of colonialism; mass media and popular culture; policing and surveillance; racial stratification; transnational markets; and xenophobia.
Instructor: E. Sammons
Prerequisite: DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS390H1 - Independent Study
Fall 2023, Winter 2024
A scholarly project chosen by the student, approved by the Department, and supervised by one of its instructors. Consult with the Diaspora and Transnational Studies Program Office for more information. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Prerequisite: DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
DTS390Y1 - Independent Study
Full Year 2023–24
A scholarly project chosen by the student, approved by the Department, and supervised by one of its instructors. Consult with the Diaspora and Transnational Studies Program Office for more information. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Prerequisite: DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
DTS401H1 - Advanced Topics in DTS: Being human: Race, Science, and Transnationalism
Winter 2024, Wednesdays, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Who is imagined to be human? Who is not? How does social scientific inquiry produce racial hierarchy and categorize the human? Once firmly rooted in colonial sense-making, scientific knowledge about race and being human now also shapes and is shaped by processes of diaspora and transnationalism. This course invites us to take an in-depth look at the human as envisioned in past and present forms of knowledge making and gathering, of science and surveillance. It also invites us to imagine the future of being human, or not.
Instructor: N. Bastani
Prerequisite: 14 FCE, including DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS402H1 - Advanced Topics in DTS: Desire in Yiddish Literature
Fall 2023, Tuesdays 2:00pm-4:00pm
What does "desire" mean to a Yiddish writer? Desire most commonly refers to sexuality and the erotic life. The object of desire may be a person, but it can also be a thing, an idea, an art form, and more. How does our milieu affect our sense of who or what we desire? Yiddish writers have always been necessarily multicultural, multilingual, trans-continental in knowledge and perspective. They responded to an extraordinarily diverse array of political and social movements including emigration/immigration, various forms of nationalism, socialism, religious belief, rejection of religious observance. In exploring the short fiction and poetry that address these concerns, we will consider authors whose names may be familiar to some (e.g., Isaac Bashevis Singer, Sholem Aleichem); we will certainly read authors who are largely unknown despite English translations of their work (e.g., Celia Dropkin, Lamed Shapiro, Yankev Glatshteyn, and more). Experimenting with modern literary forms and modern personal and political choices, these authors reveal the remarkable range of Yiddish writing in the twentieth century. (All works will be read in English translation, though Yiddish texts will also be made available.)
Instructor: A. Norich
Prerequisite: 14 FCE, including DTS200Y1/CJS200H1/CJS201H1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS404H1 - Advanced Topics in DTS: History and Counterstories in the Black Mediterranean
Fall 2023, Wednedays 2:00pm-4:00pm
This course explores colonial histories and counter- stories of resistance in the Black Mediterranean. Intended not only as a physical space but also as a symbolic site, the Black Mediterranean can be seen as a new theoretical approach useful to understand the racialized production of bodies and borders, and to highlight forms of resistance. The course will focus on Italy and its (post)colonial ties with Libya, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. Going from the Italian invasion of Eritrea in 1890 to the current so-called “refugee crisis”; the case of Italy illustrates the intersections and resignification of race, bodies and borders in the Mediterranean region, as well as the presence of important histories of resistance and alternative conceptualisations of belonging.
Instructor: A. Pesarini
Prerequisite: 14 FCE, including DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS410H1 - Diasporic Foodways
Winter 2024, Wednesdays 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Food links people across space and time. As it spirals outward from parochial sites of origin to articulate with new sites, actors and scales, it assumes new substance and meaning in new locales. This movement of food gives rise to new ‘foodways’ to help us to understand the past in terms of temporally connected sites of intense interaction. Food also plays a strong role in shaping translocal identities. As peoples have moved in the world, food has played a central role in (re)defining who they are, reproducing myth and ritual, and bounding diasporic communities. This course seeks to address questions surrounding the dynamics of the food ‘we’ eat, the ways in which ‘we’ eat, the meaning ‘we’ give to eating, and the effect of eating in a transnational world. Recognizing that culinary culture is central to diasporic identifications, the focus is on the place of food in the enduring habits, rituals, and everyday practices that are collectively used to produce and sustain a shared sense of diasporic cultural identity.
Instructor: K. MacDonald
Prerequisite: 14 FCE, including DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS412H1 - The Diasporic Imagination
Winter 2024, Tuesdays 2:00pm - 4:00pm
This course focuses on echoes of diasporic and transnational life in artistic work, and on the significance of aesthetic production to the formation of diasporic and transnational worlds. How have practices, producers, and works of art illuminated the particularities of diasporic life? How do conventions of genre, performance, and tradition shape experiences of borders and crossings? Areas of emphasis will vary but may spotlight particular historical and geographic contexts, and may foreground one or more form, including film, poetry, fiction, music, and dance.
Instructor: E. Sammons
Prerequisite: 14 FCE, including DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
DTS414H1 - Money on the Move
Fall 2023, Tuesdays 10:00am – 12:00pm
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, industry and finance matured together, pushing people into motion around the world. The instruments of long-distance trade, like insurance, credit, and debt, connected people in new and sometimes unsettling ways. The free movement of goods and cash was mirrored by restrictions on migration to some parts of the world and by forced or coerced migration to others. This course explores the history of the rise of global capitalism at a human scale, exploring how financialization, industrialization and imperialism overlapped and intertwined, and how the rise of liberalism and capitalism weighed on human lives.
Instructor: P.Scanlan
Prerequisite: 14 FCE, including DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
DTS416H1 - Wars, Diaspora, and Music
Fall 2023, Wednesdays10:00am – 12:00pm
The course explores how composers, performers, songwriters and audiences made sense of traumatic and violent events that they experienced, such as ethnic conflicts, wars, exile and displacement, through music. We will also look at how government ideologies employ music during wars. The case studies will include stories of Jewish, Palestinian, Afghan, Romani, Korean, Rwandan and other diasporas severely affected by wars and violence.
Instructor: A.Shternshis
Prerequisite: 14 FCE, including DTS200Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
REGARDING DIASPORA AND TRANSNATIONAL STUDIES COURSES
University of Toronto Mississauga courses that can be applied to the program
Please visit the UTM Diaspora & Transnational Studies page.